For many years pipes have been loaded onto transport means either individually or placed side by side in rows, stacked row upon row and banded together. The banded group is handled as a unit load onto the transport means. In some instances light weight pipes have been nested; i.e., placed one inside the other and bulkheads were built at each end of the nest to prevent axial movement. This method becomes very difficult when heavy iron pipes are involved. U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,928 addresses the problem and provides specially formed shaped for concentrically nesting pipes wherein the pipes to be nested are of suitable diameter.
The main object of the invention in U.S. Pat. No. 4,250,928 is to provide a device for holding pipes to one another each at one end when they are nested with a small difference in diameter from one another such that the sockets of the pipes are positioned close to one another or diametrically interfere with one another, whereby the nested pipes can be effectively restrained against diametrical or axial displacement from one another although the device is small-sized and easy to attach. However, only pipes which have small differences in diameters can be accommodated.
Another device for nesting pipes of varying diameters is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,792 which illustrates a complex structure of a base having multiple bars extending outwardly from the base to receive the ends of the nested pipes.
However, when the pipes to be transported may vary widely in diameter, a device such as that herein described has been found to be a distinct improvement of the prior art. The improved device allows either concentric or eccentric nesting of pipes and does not require the bending or welding of any material. All components can be cut from readily available standard products and simply bolted together. The nest is made regardless of the difference in diameter between nested pipes so long as one will physically fit inside the other.